Traditional Chinese Constellations From more than 3,000 years ago
Yuanming Wang (Uni Sydney; CSIRO; OzGrav)
13th century (Song dynasty) Chinese constellations – ‘officials’ (星官 xīng guān)
• From ~ 4,000 BC • Found on a mural in a Neolithic tomb • A unified system established at ~ 270 AD, containing 1464 stars in 284 constellations
• A kingdom on the sky • The Three Enclosures (三垣 Sān Yuán) • The Four Symbols (四象) • The Twenty-Eight Mansions (二十八宿 Èrshíbā Xiù) The Three Enclosures
• Centered on the North Pole • The Purple Forbidden enclosure (紫微垣 zǐ wēi yuán) • The Supreme Palace enclosure (太微垣 tài wēi yuán) • The Heavenly Market enclosure (天市垣 tiān shì yuán) The Purple Forbidden enclosure
Living place of the emperor The Supreme Palace enclosure
Working place of the emperor The Heavenly Market enclosure
Trading place with other cities/countries “Weaver Girl” and “Cowherd”
• Vega – Weaver Girl I (织女 zhī nǚ) • Altair – Drum at the River II, also called Cowherd (牛郎 niú láng) • Milky Way – Heavenly River (天 河 tiān hé)
• Chinese Valentine’s day (7th day of the 7th lunar month) – 七夕 qī xī “Celestial Wolf” and “Bow and Arrow” – Jǐng Mansion (井宿)
• Sirius – Celestial Wolf (天狼 Tiān láng) – enemies of ancient China • Bow and Arrow (弧矢 hú shǐ) – points to the wolf • Market for soldiers (军市 jūn shì) – trap for catching the wolf • Wild cockerel (野鸡 yě jī) – bait in the trap The Twenty- Eight Mansions
• The lodge of the Moon • One star from each mansion as (距星 jù xīng) - to establish a spherical coordinate system The Four Symbols
• The Azure Dragon of the East (青龙) • The Vermilion Bird of the South (朱雀) • The White Tiger of the West (白虎) • The Black Tortoise of the North (玄武) Relation to Chinese astrology
• Horn (Spica) – door of the Heaven: • Mars, Venus passed through = enemies might come • Five planets near there = drought might happen
Heart (Antares, alpha Scorpius): • Brighter = war inside country • Water Star – Silver • Gold Star – Yellow • Global Land • Fire Star – Reddish • Wood Star – Orange- white • Soil Star – pale gold